Empty Chairs

We have all experienced an empty chair where there once sat a close friend or loved one.  Physical death and decay cause some places to be vacated.  Some seats go unfilled as people just move away as the natural progression of life and jobs take us to new places.  But there are some chairs emptied because a relationship broke down.

As I look over my life, I see a painful amount of empty seats.  I have a mental catalog of faces who once looked back at me from these now-unpopulated place settings.  And if I am honest, I am the reason for most of the empty seats and the length of my “broken relationships” Rolodex.  At some point, I have to own the role I played in my relationships breaking down.  Even more, I have to take responsibility for allowing those relationships to stay broken.

We have no power to force others to reconnect and reconcile with us.  And the sad truth is that some relationships will only heal when God finally decides to make all things new.  But more times than not, I see how my pride and hurt keep me from offering to others what I desire them to extend to me.  Chairs remain empty as others join them in collecting dust from a lack of use. It is my continued pride and bitterness causing the population of vacant seats to rise as my gathering of friends dwindles.

There is nothing “Christlike” about such pride and resentment.  In fact, Jesus tightly gathered those who would hurt him.  He continued to hold them close in the presence of their offenses against him.  Jesus faced absolute abandonment only when his hands were physically bound and then nailed to a tree.  The “chairs” emptied around Jesus only because he was accomplishing the will of his Father.

Few, if any, of the empty seats around me are due to my pursuit of the Father’s will in my life.  Honestly, they stay empty because my refusal of Jesus’ call on my life for honest reflection and confession in the presence of others.  Tears spilled in a gathering of empty chairs are not a replacement for meekness and full disclosure offered to those I desire to sit down with me once again.

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